Solvation Term (solvation + term)

Distribution by Scientific Domains


Selected Abstracts


MOPED: Method for optimizing physical energy parameters using decoys

JOURNAL OF COMPUTATIONAL CHEMISTRY, Issue 1 2003
Chaok Seok
Abstract We present a method called MOPED for optimizing energetic and structural parameters in computational models, including all-atom energy functions, when native structures and decoys are given. The present method goes beyond previous approaches in treating energy functions that are nonlinear in the parameters and continuous in the degrees of freedom. We illustrate the method by improving solvation parameters in the energy function EEF1, which consists of the CHARMM19 polar hydrogen force field augmented by a Gaussian solvation term. Although the published parameters for EEF1 correctly discriminate the native from decoys in the decoy sets of Levitt et al., they fail on several of the more difficult decoy sets of Baker et al. MOPED successfully finds improved parameters that allow EEF1 to discriminate native from decoy structures on all protein structures that do not have metals or prosthetic groups. © 2002 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Comput Chem 24: 89,97, 2003 [source]


Identifying native-like protein structures using physics-based potentials

JOURNAL OF COMPUTATIONAL CHEMISTRY, Issue 1 2002
Brian N. Dominy
Abstract As the field of structural genomics matures, new methods will be required that can accurately and rapidly distinguish reliable structure predictions from those that are more dubious. We present a method based on the CHARMM gas phase implicit hydrogen force field in conjunction with a generalized Born implicit solvation term that allows one to make such discrimination. We begin by analyzing pairs of threaded structures from the EMBL database, and find that it is possible to identify the misfolded structures with over 90% accuracy. Further, we find that misfolded states are generally favored by the solvation term due to the mispairing of favorable intramolecular ionic contacts. We also examine 29 sets of 29 misfolded globin sequences from Levitt's "Decoys ,R' Us" database generated using a sequence homology-based method. Again, we find that discrimination is possible with approximately 90% accuracy. Also, even in these less distorted structures, mispairing of ionic contacts results in a more favorable solvation energy for misfolded states. This is also found to be the case for collapsed, partially folded conformations of CspA and protein G taken from folding free energy calculations. We also find that the inclusion of the generalized Born solvation term, in postprocess energy evaluation, improves the correlation between structural similarity and energy in the globin database. This significantly improves the reliability of the hypothesis that more energetically favorable structures are also more similar to the native conformation. Additionally, we examine seven extensive collections of misfolded structures created by Park and Levitt using a four-state reduced model also contained in the "Decoys ,R' Us" database. Results from these large databases confirm those obtained in the EMBL and misfolded globin databases concerning predictive accuracy, the energetic advantage of misfolded proteins regarding the solvation component, and the improved correlation between energy and structural similarity due to implicit solvation. Z-scores computed for these databases are improved by including the generalized Born implicit solvation term, and are found to be comparable to trained and knowledge-based scoring functions. Finally, we briefly explore the dynamic behavior of a misfolded protein relative to properly folded conformations. We demonstrate that the misfolded conformation diverges quickly from its initial structure while the properly folded states remain stable. Proteins in this study are shown to be more stable than their misfolded counterparts and readily identified based on energetic as well as dynamic criteria. In summary, we demonstrate the utility of physics-based force fields in identifying native-like conformations in a variety of preconstructed structural databases. The details of this discrimination are shown to be dependent on the construction of the structural database. © 2002 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Comput Chem 23: 147,160, 2002 [source]


Extent and mechanism of solvation and partitioning of isomers of substituted benzoic acids: A thermodynamic study in the solid state and in solution

JOURNAL OF PHARMACEUTICAL SCIENCES, Issue 9 2008
German L. Perlovich
Abstract Temperature dependency of saturated vapour pressure and thermochemical characteristics of fusion processes for 2-, 3- and 4-methoxybenzoic acids (anisic acids) were measured and thermodynamic functions of sublimation, fusion, and evaporation calculated. A new approach to split specific and nonspecific energetic terms in the crystal lattice was developed. For methoxybenzoic acid isomers as well as for a number of analogous molecules, a parameter describing molecular packing density by the ratio of free volume of the molecules in the crystal lattice and van der Waals molecular volume is defined. Its relationship to Gibbs energy of sublimation and to the respective melting points was analysed. Temperature dependencies of solubility in buffers with pH 2.0 and 7.4, n -octanol and n -hexane were measured. The thermodynamic functions of solubility, solvation and transfer processes were deduced. Concentration dependence of partition coefficients for the outlined isomers was measured. Specific and nonspecific solvation terms were distinguished using the transfer from the ,inert' n -hexane to the other solvents. Comparison analysis of specific and nonspecific interactions in the solid state and in solution was carried out. A diagram enabling analysis of the mechanism of the partitioning process was applied. It was found that position of substituents essentially affects the mechanism of partitioning in buffer pH 2.0, however, at pH 7.4, the mechanism is independent of the position of the substituent. © 2007 Wiley-Liss, Inc. and the American Pharmacists Association J Pharm Sci 97:3883,3896, 2008 [source]


Energetic aspects of diclofenac acid in crystal modifications and in solutions,mechanism of solvation, partitioning and distribution

JOURNAL OF PHARMACEUTICAL SCIENCES, Issue 5 2007
German L. Perlovich
Abstract Temperature dependency of saturated vapor pressure and heat capacity for the diclofenac acid (Form II) were measured and thermodynamic functions of sublimation calculated (,,=,49.3 kJ,·,mol,1; ,,=,115.6,±,1.3 kJ,·,mol,1; ,,=,222,±,4 J,·,mol,1,·,K,1). Crystal polymorphic Forms I (P21/c) and II (C2/c) of diclofenac acid have been prepared and characterized by X-ray diffraction experiments. The difference between crystal lattice energies of the two forms were obtained by solution calorimetry: ,,Hsol(I,,,II),=,1.6,±,0.4 kJ,·,mol,1. Temperature dependencies of the solubility in buffers with pH 2.0 and 7.4, n-octanol and n-hexane were measured. The thermodynamic functions of solubility, solvation, and transfer processes were deduced. Specific and non-specific solvation terms were distinguished using the transfer from the "inert" n-hexane to the other solvents. The transfer of diclofenac acid molecules from the buffers to n-octanol (partitioning and distribution) is an entropy driven process. © 2007 Wiley-Liss, Inc. and the American Pharmacists Association J Pharm Sci 96: 1031,1042, 2007 [source]


Free energy determinants of tertiary structure and the evaluation of protein models

PROTEIN SCIENCE, Issue 11 2000
Donald Petrey
Abstract We develop a protocol for estimating the free energy difference between different conformations of the same polypeptide chain. The conformational free energy evaluation combines the CHARMM force field with a continuum treatment of the solvent. In almost all cases studied, experimentally determined structures are predicted to be more stable than misfolded "decoys." This is due in part to the fact that the Coulomb energy of the native protein is consistently lower than that of the decoys. The solvation free energy generally favors the decoys, although the total electrostatic free energy (sum of Coulomb and solvation terms) favors the native structure. The behavior of the solvation free energy is somewhat counterintuitive and, surprisingly, is not correlated with differences in the burial of polar area between native structures and decoys. Rather, the effect is due to a more favorable charge distribution in the native protein, which, as is discussed, will tend to decrease its interaction with the solvent. Our results thus suggest, in keeping with a number of recent studies, that electrostatic interactions may play an important role in determining the native topology of a folded protein. On this basis, a simplified scoring function is derived that combines a Coulomb term with a hydrophobic contact term. This function performs as well as the more complete free energy evaluation in distinguishing the native structure from misfolded decoys. Its computational efficiency suggests that it can be used in protein structure prediction applications, and that it provides a physically well-defined alternative to statistically derived scoring functions. [source]